The Liebster Award! Passing the Torch

My great friend and fellow Sherlock enthusiast (has nothing to do with this award, promise - wink!) Alyson Grauer started a blog not too long ago, and through it has inspired others, not just me, to live out their dreams. The nature of this award is to acknowledge those I admire and respect through their courageous efforts expressed in blog form.

The Liebster Award was bestowed upon me from her and I promised not to let her down. I have in return nominated Laurieann Thorpe, Becky Halls, Terra Luft, Michael Bacera, and Johnny Worthen, all of which have inspired me.

A quick review - The Liebster (not Lobster as my daughter read it) Award is passed friend to friend, blogger to blogger, to those whom have in some way influenced your character, changed the way you think or feel, and/or let your mind fill with inspirational MAGIC! And to help introduce other readers, writers, or authors to share in the fun.


From Aly's website, here are the RULES:

1. Acknowledge you belong in the blogging community, and that you ROCK!

2. Nominate influential bloggers that you have admired, read, love, and let the world know it!

3. Give these lovely people a few questions.

4. Answer said questions.

5. Watch the world ignite with excitement. Share!


First... Thank you Alyson, for thinking that my little blog is worthy of this. I can't say it is worth any special praise, but it has become important to me. I like writing and sharing what happens to me in my crazy world, but I also like the spontaneity of writing a blog, the way the words flow fluidly out of my brain through my fingers. Writing is a passion, and this little blog has helped keep my brain active, creative, and sane.


So, without any waiting, here are the questions my lovely friend has asked:


1. If you were a protagonist in a novel, what genre would it be, and who is the author? Great question. This one kept me thinking for quite a while. It's hard to pick. My life is a sequence of comic sitcom hi-jinx, laced with calm moments of clarity. It would have to be fantasy - no doubt there, but not Tolkien, that's too predictable. If I could put my finger on it, my novel would be much like the situational comedia and heart-felt lessons of Anne of Green Gables written by the fantastical Garth Nix. This mash-up works nicely. It's what I live and breathe.


2. What is your favorite classic fairy tale (Grimm, Hans Christian Anderson, Perrault, etc)?

Funny that I have my copy of Grimm's fairy tales resting right next to me... hmmmmm..... let me see.... actually, I know this without looking it up.

My favorite since I was a child - Grimm's Snow White and Rose Red.

I have one sister, if I can mention it, and as we grew we were much like Snow White (tender, gentle) and Rose Red (free-spirited, adventurous), need no explanation (wink!). We lived in the country near groves of trees and mountain streams, with only each other to play with. If we would happen upon a dwarf with his beard stuck in a log, well of course, we would try to help him out with whatever we had. And, let's say, if a bear found its way to our small country cottage, cold and wet, well of course, we would let it come in and warm by the fire.

Truth. I love this tale because it's about sisters. Sisters are important, and let me say... AMAZING! It's like I was given a best friend I can hang with forever, sharing experiences together. I didn't always think this, but I do now. A sister is one of the best gifts I was ever given. (and watch Becka cry right... about... now...)

3. What color is your magic? Be specific. I don't think it would be any secret that my magic is green. But it is not any green, this green is the first green awakened by spring, fresh like wet clover, grasping energy from the sun and building strength as it grows. It lives in the tallest trees where only a few can find it, but every so often catches a swift breeze, sweeping down past hills and fields, to lay on the shoulder of one who dreams of impossible things and is ready to believe.

courtesy of Becka Thomas - pie face extraordinaire

4. Would you rather have cake or pie? PIE!!!! If you didn't know, because I'm surprised that some people DON'T know, pies need faces. Every time my mother made a pie when we were growing up she cut a cute smiley-face in the top. I grew up thinking all pies had faces until the dreaded day - some time when I was about fifteen - when I went to a friend's house and had pie WITHOUT a smiley-face. It was like eating sadness. SO, please, for the sake of those you love and who love pie, put a smiley-face on it and EAT the JOY!

5. If you were an Animagus or able to transform into an animal, what creature would you be? Very clever. Of course I already have this all planned out, being the Potter Dreamer that I am, but there is a fundamental problem - I don't really like animals. But... if we are playing by Potter rules then I think it is clearly... A UNICORN!!

Unicorns have special magic and live beyond what people believe. I think this represents me very well. I would like to think that I am that rare creature, chained to a world that doesn't want to believe that I exist. BUT I DO! And the mystical world around me suffers because of the ones who are too realistic to remember being a child and living wide-eyed. I live dreaming of things beyond reality and always have that flicker of wonder in everything I do and see. If I see a white horse on the mountain side - I've spotted a unicorn. If I hear the tinkling of wind chimes - a fairy must be near. Don't give up on that world, it exists. I'm here! Come find me!


And there you are. To the lovely friends I have selected -

Laurieann Thorpe - Open Book Open Heart

Becky Halls - Thoroughly In Earnest

Terra Luft - View From the Crystal Ball

Michael Bacera - Qualified Opinions

Johnny Worthen - Blog Mansion

And here are the questions I ask of you:

1. Who has been a constant in your life, making you the person you are today? 
2. What song would play at the quintessential part of your own movie? 
3. List three literary characters who best represent you or wished you had created? 
4. How do you inspire those around you? 
5. What is the tagline for the book of your life? 

There you have it world - one Liebster thanked and now navigating to others. 

God speed little award. Take wings!